Immigration and Public Policy

Writings on the subject of immigration over the years vary widely in motivation,
viewpoint, approach, and quality. Publications in the CRL collections
run the gamut, from 19th century tracts designed to promote ethnic prejudice
and bias, to those that use sophisticated metrics of modern social and
behavioral science. A keyword search of the CRL online catalog under “immigration”
yields several hundred primary sources. Here are a few.

The American Culture Series, a massive 627-reel microform set
published by University Microfilms, is a collection of American political
and cultural literature of the 19th century, rich in early writings on
immigration. The massive collection contains a number of key works of
the virulent anti-Irish and anti-Catholic ideology of the Nativist movement
that arose in the northeastern US during the antebellum period. Among
them are two 1835 polemics by Samuel F. B. Morse, better known for introducing
the telegraph, and others:

CRL holdings of later 19th and early 20th century American sociological
literature document the attempts—some more progressive than others—of
American thinkers and scholars to come to grips with the impact of the
great tides of immigrants from Ireland, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Some of these authors saw the various migrating ethnic groups in terms
of social Darwinist hierarchies. Others advocated public policy solutions
based on quantitative, scientific observation of socialization processes
among the new populations. The works of the latter signal the beginnings
of social engineering in the United States.

Philip Marshman Rose. The
Italians in America, with an introduction by Charles Hatch
Sears. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1922.

Immigration
is a perennial interest of scholars in disciplines ranging from history
to political science. CRL’s dissertation collection includes numerous
studies of the nature, causes, and impact of immigration on France, Israel,
the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States. Some of the titles held
by CRL: